Bass flute



Nov. 6, 1962 T. S. OGlLVlE BASS FLUTE Filed March 24, 1960 INVENTOR.

THOMAS 5. OGlLV/E AGENT United States Patent Oflice 3,062,084 Patented Nov. 6, 1962 3,062,084 BASS FLUTE Thomas S. Ogilvie, 2598 Muscupiabe Drive, San Bernardiuo, Calif. Filed Mar. 24, 1960, Ser. No. 17,302 Claims. (Cl. 84-384) The present invention relates generally to wind instruments, and more particularly to the bass flute, which is similar to the ordinary C flute but sounds one complete octave below the latter.

While the bass flute has been known as a musical curiosity for more than a century, it has never been accepted as a practical musical instrument because of the difficulty in handling the instrument and in producing satisfactory sound. Some of the early instruments could not be played by anyone except the designer, while other early bass flutes could be played only by the most expert musicians of the times. These instruments were awkward to handle, undependable in response, and generally lacking in tone quality. Prior to the present invention, there has never been a bass flute that could be depended upon to deliver clean, sharply defined tones in the lower register, and there has long been a feeling among experienced musicians that the bass flute would never be a success and should be relegated to oblivion.

The difficulty in obtaining satisfactory sound with prior bass flutes has been due primarily to the large size embouchure hole which is required for the air column within the instrument body. With the large embouchure hole, it is virtually impossible to control the stream of air leaving the players lips so that the entire airstream is concentrated directly over the embouchure hole, where it is effective for the production of sound. The airstream tends to fan out as it leaves the players lips, and is much weaker and less controlled at the side edges of the embouchure hole than it is at the center. This relatively uncontrolled and greatly weakened stream of air at the sides of the embouchure hole interferes with the production of sound by the center portion of the airstream, and the result has been that prior bass flutes have produced sound of inferior quality, with tones that are fuzzy and lacking in edge.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved bass flute which is capable of producing a rich, clean-edged sound of distinct quality throughout its entire register, and which is particularly characterized by ease of tone production and facility of operation.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a bass flute embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the embouchure of the flute shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the embouchure; and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view, taken at 44 in FIGURE 3.

In the drawings, the bass flute of the present invention is seen to be generally U-shaped in configuration, with one leg of the U considerably longer than the other. The instrument is formed of thin-walled tubular metal sections, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 which are joined together endto-end, as shown in FIGURE 1. Section is known as the lower joint; section 11 is the flute body; sections 12 and 13 together constitute the return bend; while section 14 is the head joint. The lower joint 10 and flute body 11 are provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced tone holes having the usual pivoted closure caps 17 associated therewith, some of which are normally closed and some of which are normally open. The closure caps 17 are selectively opened or closed by means of keys 15, which are depressed by the player singly or in combinations to produce the different musical tones. The keys of the instrument illustrated herein are of the familiar Boehm system. Mounted on the head joint 14 is the embouchure 16.

The return bend 12, 13 is an important factor contributing to the facility of operation of the instrument, as it ,shortens the over-all length of the flute to 53 inches,

which is a convenient length for most purposes. Also, the return bend 12, 13 brings the embouchure 16 back to a position closely adjacent the top key on the flute body 11, so that all of the keys 15 are within easy reach when the instrument is held at playing position.

The embouchure 16 comprises a curved embouchure plate 20, which is attached to the top end of a truncated conical tube 21 that is joined to the head joint 14. The conical bore 22 of the tube 21 intersects and opens into the bore 23 of the head joint. The top end of the conical bore 22 opens through the embouchure plate 20 to form the embouchure hole 24. The embouchure hole 24 is approximately elliptical in shape, and is preferably 12 mm. across the minor axis, and 15 mm. along the major axis thereof. The major axis of the ellipse extends longitudinally of the head joint 14. The depth of the conical bore 22 is approximately 9 mm, and at its bottom end, the bore 22 is about 15 mm. in diameter. As best shown in FIGURE 4, the embouchure hole 24 is not centered in the curved plate 20, but is oflset to one side thereof. The wide portion of the plate 20 which lies to the right of the embouchure hole 24 (as seen in FIGURE 4) and curves downwardly therefrom, is placed against the chin so that the lower lip rests against the adjacent edge of the hole.

Attached to the curved plate 20 on opposite sides of the embouchure hole 24 are two opposed wind control members 25, which serve to concentrate or guide the airstream so that the entire airstream is confined to the area immediately above the embouchure hole, with no spill at the edges. The wind control members 25 may take any of several different shapes, as long as there are generally vertical side walls projecting upwardly from the plate 20 immediately adjacent the ends of the embouchure hole.

In the embodiment illustrated herein, the wind control members 25 are substantially semiconical in shape, with their apices pointing outwardly in opposite directions, and their bases 26 facing each other across the long dimension of the embouchure hole 24. The bases 26 of the members 25 are preferably curved with a slight cylindrical curvature so as to more or less follow the curved edge of the hole 24.

The Wind control members 25 greatly increase the efficiency of the airstream leaving the players lips, as they prevent the airstream from fanning out with resultant loss of volume and control of the airstream at the ends of the embouchure hole. The bases 26 of the wind control members 25 are in the nature of generally parallel, vertical walls on opposite sides of the embouchure hole 24, and these walls confine the wind so that the entire stream passes directly over the embouchure hole and strikes the back lip 24' to produce a rich sound of highest quality. The conical sides of the wind control members 25 provide smoothly rounded surfaces against which the lower lip can be pressed without discomfort.

While I have shown and described in considerable detail what I believe to be the preferred form of my invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the shape and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a bass flute having a tubular body provided with a plurality of tone holes, and a head joint connected to said body, an embouchure on said head joint comprising a curved embouchure plate having a hole in the center portion thereof, and a pair of projections rising from said plate on opposite sides of said embouchure hole, said pair of projections providing opposed Walls for confining the wind to the area of said embouchure hole.

2. In a bass flute having a tubular body provided with a plurality of tone holes, and a head joint connected to said body, an embouchure on said head joint comprising a curved embouchure plate having a hole in the center portion thereof, and a pair of semiconical projections attached to said plate on opposite sides of said embouchure hole, said projections having their apices pointing outwardly in opposite directions, and the bases of said semiconical projections being disposed immediately adjacent opposite sides of said embouchure hole, said bases serving to confine the entire wind stream to the area of said embouchure hole.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2, wherein the bases of said semiconical projections are curved slightly in a cylindrical curvature so as to follow the edge of said embouchure hole.

4. In a bass flute having a foot joint and flute body connected together end-to-end and having a plurality of tone holes provided therein, and a system of keys associated with said tone holes, a U-shaped return bend connected to the end of said flute body, a head joint connected to said return bend, said head joint extending parallel to and closely adjacent said flute body, an embouchure on said head joint adjacent the top end of said keys on the side of said head joint opposite said flute body, said embouchure including a curved plate having an embouchure hole provided therein, and deflector means projecting upwardly from said embouchure plate on opposite sides of said embouchure hole for concentrating the wind so that the entire stream thereof passes directly over said embouchure hole.

5. In a bass flute having a foot joint and flute body connected together end-to-end and having a plurality of tone holes provided therein, and a system of keys associated with said tone holes, a U-shaped return bend connected to the end of said flute body, a head joint connected to said return bend, said head joint extending parallel to and closely adjacent said flute body, an embouchure on said head joint adjacent the top end of said keys, said embouchure including a curved plate having an embouchure hole provided therein, and a pair of opposed projections rising from said curved plate on opposite sides of said embouchure hole, said projections providing genenerally parallel facing side walls extending perpendicular to said plate, said side Walls serving to confine the wind stream to the area of said embouchure hole.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,054,793 Rieder Mar. 4, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS 624,703 France Apr. 11, 1927 999,364 France Oct. 3, 1951 

